Northeast Kansas Heritage Tour

Northeast Heritage Tour map

Northeast Kansas offers views of rolling hills, woodlands, rivers, and creeks along with a number of small- to medium-sized cities.  You'll find a large variety of sites to visit with topics such as dinosaurs, Native Americans, the West, aviation, art, and science.

Towns are listed in alphabetical order, followed by information on historical attractions. Use our button bar below to go to the town.

Return to the Heritage Tours.

For road maps to each of these sites, we suggest you use Yahoo! Maps.

A

Abilene

Dickinson County Heritage Center and Museum of Independent Telephony

Features include pre-historic exhibits, the days of the cattle drives, and an 1885 pumper fire wagon. Visitors can ride a turn-of-the-century Parker carousel, designated as a National Landmark.

Location: 412 S. Campbell
Telephone: 785-263-2681

Eisenhower Center Museum

The Dwight D. Eisenhower president library features his early years, military career, presidency, and life with Mamie. The museum also offers a gallery with changing exhibits.

Location: SE Fourth Street
Telephone: 785-263-4751

Greyhound Hall of Fame

Features the breeding and racing of greyhounds as well as the history of pari-mutuel betting.

Location: SE Fourth Street
Telephone: 785-263-3000

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Museum

Exhibits on the history of Kansas sporting events and the state's greatest athletes.

Location: 213 N. Broadway
Telephone: 785-263-7166

Old Abilene Town Museum

An 1887 railroad depot holds displays on the time of the cattle drives and railroad development.

Location: 100 SE Sixth Street
Telephone: 785-263-4751

Seeyle Patent Medicine Museum

The Seeyle Mansion and Museum dates from early patent medicine days. The medicine company boasted a line of 84 different products.

Location: 1105 N. Buckeye
Telephone: 785-263-1084

Alma

Wabaunsee County Historical Museum

An old stone bank holds displays on county history including a general store, doctor's office, blacksmith shop, and barber shop.

Location: 227 Missouri
Telephone: 785-765-2200

Atchison

Atchison County Historical Society Museum

Housed in the former depot, exhibits focus on local history including on Amelia Earhart's childhood home and the development of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

Location: 200 S. 10th
Telephone: 913-367-6238

B

Baldwin City

Old Castle Museum

An 1858 three-story sandstone and limestone building houses a variety of exhibits, features include an 1845 Seth Thomas weight clock, an 1895 bellows camera, and pioneer store equipment.

Location: 515 Fifth Street
Telephone: 785-594-6809

Quayle Bible Collection Museum

Featuring tablets, bibles, and various religions texts from around the world, including cuneiform tablets and a cone from 2000 B.C., an Egyptian papyrus fragment from 2000 B.C., and a 14th century synagogue roll in Hebrew.

Location: Eighth and Fremont, Collins Library, Baker University
Telephone: 785-594-6451

C

Clay Center

Clay County Historical Museum

Originally the local hospital, the 1925 red brick building houses a variety of exhibits on local history including an operating and obstretric room and an 1896 Regina music box.

Location: 2121 Seventh Street
Telephone: 785-632-3786

Council Grove

Kaw Mission State Historic Site

This beautiful stone building was an early mission for children of the Kaw tribe. Located on the Santa Fe Trail, the surrounding town of Council Grove was a favorite stopping place for travelers.

Location: 500 N. Mission Street
Telephone: 620-767-5410

F

Fort Riley

1st Division Museum

World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and Desert Storm exhibits highlight the museum featuring the history of the Big Red One.

Location: Behind U.S. Cavalry Museum (see listing below)
Telephone: 785-239-2743

First Territorial Capitol State Historic Site

The museum highlights the history of Kansas Territory's first capitol, the site of the 1855 legislative session. Voted in during a fraudulent election, the proslavery legislators and the laws they passed were soon declared bogus.

Location: Via Huebner Road on Fort Riley military reservation
Telephone: 785-784-5535

U.S. Cavalry Museum

Buffalo soldiers, dragoons, and mounted riflemen are featured in the museum covering the history of the U.S. Cavalry.  the Mexican War, Civil War, San Juan Hill, and World War I are among the time periods covered in the museum with numerous artifacts, paintings, and dioramas.

Location: Building 205
Telephone: 785-239-2737

H

Hanover

Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site

The historical Pony Express Station, which ran from 1860 until 1861, appears much as it did during the time it served travelers along the Oregon-California Trail. The new visitor's center provides a full-size mural depicting life at the station; interactive exhibits on communications from the pony express, telegraph, to computers; and transportation from the nineteenth century. The visitor's center also includes a gift shop featuring items related to the Kansas history.

Location: 2889 23rd Street
Telephone: 785-337-2635

Highland

Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission State Historic Site

This mission was established in 1845 by the Presybterian church to house and educate the children of the Iowa and Sac & Fox.

Location: K-120 north from U.S.-36, turn east on Mission Road

J

Junction City

Geary County Historical Society Museum

County history is covered with exhibits on Native Americans who lived in the area, train depot, and early twentieth century clothing.

Location: 530 N. Sixth Street
Telephone: 785-238-1666

K

Kansas City Metro

Children's Museum of Kansas City

Interactive exhibits include a chain reaction, a grocery store, a saltwater aquarium with a tunnel for crawling underneath, dress-up area, and a recycling center.

Location: 4601 State Avenue
Telephone: 913-287-8888

Clendening History of Medicine Library and Museum

Exhibits often feature Kansas medical history through the use of both historical artifacts and archival materials. One of the five largest collections of rare and new medical books.

Location: University of Kansas Medical Center, Rainbow and 39th
Telephone: 913-588-7244

Grinter Place State Historic Site

Moses Grinter came to Kansas long before it was a territory. He earned his livelihood by trading with the Native Americans and by operating a ferry where the military road crosed the Kansas River. Here in the 1850s he and his wife, Annie, a Delaware Indian, built a fine new house that echoed those he had know in his native Kentucky. Tours of the house museum are available.

Location: 1420 South 78th Street
Telephone: 913-299-0373

Johnson County Museum of History and the 1950s All-Electric House

The Museum features a changing exhibit gallery and the permanent exhibit Seeking the Good Life, tracing the history and development of the county from the 1820s to modern times. The 1950s All-Electric House is located on the property and whether you're a child of the 50s or just curious about lifestyles from this nostalgic era, the house offers an eye-opening look at the lifestyles and technologies of the times. 

Location: 6305 Lackman Road
Telephone: 913-631-6709

Lanesfield School Historic Site

Located along a mail stop on the Santa Fe School, the schoolhouse features living history experiences for students and visitors. The stone school was built in 1869 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A Visitors Center houses an exhibit on one-room school education and modern restroom facilities.

Location: 18745 S. Dillie Road, Edgerton
Telephone: 913-631-6709

Legler Barn Museum / Lenexa Historical Society

Originally built in 1864 by a Swiss immigrant, the building was taken apart and rebuilt in the city park.

Location: 14907 West 87th Street Parkway, Lenexa
Telephone: 913-492-0038

Mahaffie Historic Site

The farmstead was the first stop for stagecoaches traveling form Westport, Missouri, to the Santa Fe Trail.  The 23-acre site is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Location: 1100 Kansas City Road
Telephone: 913-782-6972

Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site

The mission was established as a manual labor skills boarding school for children of several Native American nations living in the area. One of the three remaining buildings is among the oldest structures in Kansas.  The east building features exhibits on the themes of Thomas Johnson, Indian agents and missionaries, Kansas settlement, Bleeding Kansas, Overland trails, and the Civil War.

Location: 3403 West 53rd Street
Telephone: 913-262-0867

Wonderscope Children's Museum

Science is the theme in exhibits on the electromagnetic spectrum, sound waves, a computer fractal lab, and how composting works.

Location: 5705 Flint Street
Telephone: 913-268-8130

Wyandotte County Museum

Local history and prehistory is covered, including an exhibit on the Hopewell Indians who lived in the area from 1 to 500 BCE.

Location: 631 N. 126th
Telephone: 913-721-1078

L

Lawrence

Elizabeth Watkins Community Museum

The 1888 former bank building houses exhibits on the history of the county.  The beginnings of basketball are featured with Dr. James Naismith and Dr. Phog Allen, the history of Haskell Indian Nations University, and local photography spanning 175 years.

Location: 1047 Massachusetts
Telephone: 785-841-4109

Dyche Museum of Natural History

A parasauralophus greets visitors at the museum featuring an extensive collection of species featuring dinosaurs, mammoths, and a large panorama of North American plants and stuffed animals from arctic to desert climates. the musem also features a store with products based on the exhibits.

Location: Dyche Hall, University of Kansas
Telephone: 785-864-4245

Spencer Museum of Art

Eleven galleries representing much of the world's art history, both Western and Asian. Works by Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, John Singer Sargent, and Georgia O'Keeffe are among the highlights.

Location: University of Kansas
Telephone: 785-864-4710

Wilcox Classical Museum

Replicas of famous sculptures are featured.  An exhibit on marble also is included.

Location: University of Kansas
Telephone: 785-864-3170

Leavenworth

Frontier Army Museum

One of the finest collections of nineteenth century horse-drawn vehicles highlights this musum covering the frontier army from 1817-1917 and Fort Leavenworth 1827-Present.  A carriage that carried Abraham Lincoln during his visit to Leavenworth, Custer's horse sleigh, and a 1917 Jenny biplane used to track Pancho Villa are among the many items on exhibit.

Location: Reynolds and Gibbons streets
Telephone: 913-684-3191

Leavenworth County Museum

A 1867 sixteen-room mansion houses the museum featuring county history.  Victorian clothing, a kitchen, and textiles are among the many exhibits.

Location: 1128 fifth Street
Telephone 913 682-7759

Lecompton

Constitution Hall State Historic Site

The site where the Lecompton Constitution was drafted imposing a proslavery government on the antislavery majority in Kansas Territory.  The document's failure helped push the South toward withdrawing from the Union.  The site features first- and second-floor exhibits depicting the convention at which the document was drafted and later history of the building.  A museum store also is included.

Location: 319 Elmore
Telephone: 785-887-6520

Lyndon

Osage County Historical Museum & Research Center

History of Osage County communities is highlighted with exhibits of quilts, books, and photographs. Large county genealogy collection.

Location: 631 Topeka Avenue
Telephone: 785-828-3477

M

Manhattan

Goodnow House State Historic Site

The home of Isaac Goodnow, who found the college that became Kansas State University, and his wife Ellen features exhibits from the late nineteenth century.  

Location: 2301 Claflin Road
Telephone: 785-565-6490

Riley County Historical Museum

Exhibits on local and county history feature items used in daily life during the nineteenth and twentieth century.  Highlights include early clothes-washing equipment and agriculture implements.     

Location: 2309 Claflin Road
Telephone: 785-537-2210

Marysville

Courthouse Museum

Housed in the 1891 brick courthouse, the museum features the judges bench and courtroom as it appeared in 1898, a primitive kitchen, and an exhibit on local ghost towns.  

Location: 1209 Broadway
Telephone: 785-562-5012

Pony Express Barn Museum

Contained in an original pony express barn and station, the museum also features Native American artifacts and early farm equipment as well as other displays.

Location: 106 S. Eighth Street
Telephone: 785-562-9874

O

Oskaloosa

No museums currenetly are listed for Oskaloosa.

Osage City

No museums currenetly are listed for Osage City.

P

Paola

Miami County Swan River Museum

Exhibits on early Miami County and Paola businesses, schools, parks, racetracks, hotels, opera houses, etc. Three 19th century buildings.

Location: 12 East Peoria
Telephone: 913-294-4940

S

Seneca

Nemaha County Museum

Housed in a two-story brick building, the museum features early twentieth century furnishings, exhibits on the jail, a doctor's office, and post office.

Location: Sixth Street
Telephone: 785-336-6366

T

Topeka

Combat Air Museum

Military aircraft featuring a Jenny biplane, T-28 Trojan, F-7F Blue Angel, MiG 17, Huey helicopter, C-47, EC 121 Connie, and restoration work on other aircraft.

Location: Hangar 602, Forbes Field
Telephone: 785-862-3303

Kansas Museum of History

More than 22,000 square feet of exhibits in the Main and Special Galleries and tell the story of Kansas from prehistoric times to the recent past. Hightlights include an 1880 locomotive, full-size reproductions of a Southern Cheyenne tipi and a Wichita grasslodge, and exhibits on Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War. The Museum Store offers collectible items and gifts relating to Kansas history.

Location: 6425 SW 6th Avenue
Telephone: 785-272-8681
Find admission information

Kansas State Capitol

Learn the fascinating story of John Steuart Curry's murals, see the spectacular chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, gaze upward to view the marble and the glass panels of the dramatic Capitol dome.

Location: Exit 362B on I-70, follow the signs
10th and Jackson
Dome Tours: Find hours and description
Historic Tours: Find hours and description
Telephone: 785-296-3966
Admission:Free

Mulvane Art Museum

Featuring contemporary mountain and plains area art with regionalism, American modernism, and Kansas artists.

Location: 1700 Jewell, Washburn University
Telephone: 785-295-6324

W

Wamego

Columbian Theatre, Museum & Art Center

Decorative arts museum housed in an 1895 building to display 1893 Chicago World's Fair paintings.

Location: 521 Lincoln
Telephone: 785-456-2029

Waterville

No museums are currently listed for Waterville.


Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to confirm hours, admission, and holiday schedules. To request that your museum be added to this listing, contact our webmaster.

Northwest

North Central

Southwest

South Central

Southeast

Historic Markers

Back to the Heritage Tours page

Check Blue Skyways' Kansas Museums page for more sites around the state.
See also Link to Kansas for virtual tours of heritage sites.

Hanover Marysville Seneca Atchison Waterville Clay Center Wamego Leavenworth Oskaloosa Manhattan Lecompton Junction City Fort Riley Abilene Council Grove Alma Lyndon Osage City Topeka Lawrence Kansas City Metro Baldwin City

Kansas Historical Society
 
Presentation Graphic
Kansas Historical Society
Kansas Historical Society